MANILA: With job prospects in Taiwan dimming for Filipinos, a group of recruitment agencies is appealing to Manila and Taipei for sobriety, saying both sides should stick to dialogue and avoid taking drastic actions like imposing travel and employment restrictions.
“As per what we read, the issue is enforcement of our laws against foreigners doing illegal fishing in our Philippine waters. Both sides should sit down and adopt measures to prevent similar cases in the future,” Angelo Tong, President of Pilipino Manpower Agencies Accredited to Taiwan (PILMAT), said.
Relations between Manila and Taipei soured following the fatal shooting on May 9 of a suspected Taiwanese poacher off Batanes.
Tong said PILMAT hopes that the incident would not completely ruin the cordial cultural and economic relations between Taiwan and the Philippines.
“Specially, we hope that freezing of hiring of our workers should not be resorted to, because both sides need each other,” PILMAT said.
There are over 80,000 registered Filipino workers in Taiwan employed mainly in electronic enterprises and in households or hospices as caregivers for the territory’s elderly.
In 2011 alone, the Philippines deployed 32,000 workers to Taiwan, making the territory the 7th top destination for Filipino workers.
As the government struggles to repair damaged relations with Taiwan, Agriculture Secretary Proceso Alcala said a technical working group composed of fisheries officials from both countries had been created to discuss a possible fisheries agreement.
THE PHILIPPINE STAR
